Being on the cover of NASCAR Thunder 2004 is an honor for the entire Joe Gibbs Racing team," commented Tony Stewart. "I look forward to working with EA SPORTS and playing NASCAR Thunder 2004 while on the road and against other drivers and my crew."

In just four years of NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition with Joe Gibbs Racing, Home Depot driver Tony Stewart secured one of the most coveted honors in all of motor sports-the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. It was Stewart's ninth driving title since he first wheeled a go-kart at a racetrack in 1978.

"We feel that Tony Stewart epitomizes the competitive spirit that we are capturing in this year's game," said Chris Gray, Executive Producer for EA SPORTS NASCAR Thunder. "The grudges and alliances gameplay makes you feel like there are real drivers inside the other cars, an experience that is unmatched by any other driving game on the market."

NASCAR Thunder 2004 is slated to ship this fall for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation console, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, and PC CD-ROM next week. NASCAR Thunder 2004 is being developed by EA Tiburon.